The 2011 Seahawks: A Preemptive Season in Review

This is the Pete Carroll we want to see more of.

  I realize that there are still 2 games left to be played in the Seattle Seahawks football season.  I’m writing this now because regardless of how those final two games go, win or lose, it won’t change my outlook on how the season has progressed.  Going into the 2011 campaign not many people felt that Seattle was going to be a good team. As a fan I had resigned myself to the fact that we were in year two of a long rebuild and was looking mostly for signs of improvement and competitiveness. What a difference a couple of months can make.

   Fans in Seattle were still riding high in April of 2011. We had witnessed one of the great runs in NFL Playoff history, when Marshawn Lynch broke about 465474321 tackles on his way down field in a stunning upset of the defending champion New Orleans Saints. The lockout however was in full effect causing many to question whether or not football would even be played this year. Players were organizing on their own in small groups that weren’t entirely made up of just their team mates to work out and try to get ready for the possibility of an NFL season. A familiar face was seen around Seattle at those work-outs in the form of quarterback Mathew Hasslebeck. Prior to the lock-out Pete Carroll had mentioned that getting a deal done to bring #8 back for 2011 was a “priority” but the two sides had failed to come to an agreement before talks were forcibly closed by the labor strife between owners and the NFLPA. Nearly everyone in Seahawk fan land believed that they would find a way to bring back Matt to help groom whichever young quarterback the team drafted that April.

   One by one though, the top QB’s went off the board and the Seahawks front office chose to go with James Carpenter, OT, Alabama. This move shocked everyone, including Carpenter’s college coach, Nick Saban who was seen on TV to openly question drafting James in the first round. One by one the rest of the QB’s went off the board and in the third round they selected John Moffitt, OG, Wisconsin. The pick of Moffitt was better received by the draft gurus as Moffitt graded out well and was seen as a great value in the third round. In the fourth round they took talented and tall WR Kris Durham out of Georgia and LB KJ Wright from Mississippi State as a supposed LEO project. The fifth round brought us 6’ 3” Stanford CB Richard Sherman and ball hawking Appalachian State FS Mark Legree. In the sixth round CB Byron Maxwell out of Clemson was the choice. Pete Carroll and John Schneider ended their second draft as the Seahawks front office brain-trust by selecting DE Lazarius (Pep) Levingston from LSU and LB Malcolm Smith from USC. So, that’s 2 OL, 1WR, 3 DB, 1 DL, and 2 LB. The glaring omission for many fans was at the most important of positions, quarterback.   

   When the lockout ended Seattle fans were left wondering what direction the team was going to go at QB. Early on in the shortened free agency period Seattle and Matt Hasslebeck had decided to move in different directions with Hasslebeck signing a 3 year contract with the Tennessee Titans to help groom the tenth overall pick, former UW Husky stand out Jake Locker. We had to believe that the front office had a plan. Maybe they were going to let Charlie Whitehurst play and cross their fingers for Stanford QB Andrew Luck in 2012? In the tumultuous days to follow Seattle added free agent OG Robert Gallery from Oakland, and WR Sidney Rice, as well as QB Tarvaris Jackson from Minnesota. A few days later they also added Gallery’s former Oakland team mate TE Zach Miller. These moves all made sense from a stand point that in the off-season Pete Carroll had hired men that coached all 4 of these players with their previous teams, OL Coach Tom Cable who was previously the head coach in Oakland and Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevel formerly holding the same position in Minnesota.

   As fans, we were excited about what Gallery could do for our run game, and what Rice and Miller could bring to the passing game, but were left baffled by the signing of Tarvaris Jackson as well as the subsequent move by Carroll to name him starter, sight unseen, no questions asked. We’d all seen and laughed about Tarvaris from his time in Minnesota, but Pete refused to budge, like he knew something we didn’t.

   Preseason games came and went. The offense seemed to struggle with Tarvaris under center and would come alive when back-up Charlie Whitehurst and even UDFA acquisition Josh Portis came on in relief. Pete still wouldn’t budge, Tarvaris was the guy.

   We saw flashes of brilliance from another UDFA, former Stanford WR Doug Baldwin that had many people penciling him in on the 53 man roster and leaving former second round pick Golden Tate off. In the fourth preseason game, a game that some thought was Tate’s last shot to make the roster he finally showed fans a glimpse of what he could be as a WR with 5 receptions for 79yds in a 20-3 win over the Oakland Raiders.

   Seattle opened the season on the road in San Francisco, facing their new head coach John Harbaugh. Late in the fourth quarter down by 9, UDFA and former Harbaugh player Doug Baldwin took a pass from Tarvaris Jackson 55yds for 6 to bring the Seahawks within 2pts. Momentum turned and it looked like Seattle was going to pull out a come from behind victory, that alas, didn’t happen, What happened was Ted Ginn Jr returning two kicks in a row for TD’s and a final score of 33-17 San Francisco.

   The following week brought another road game, this time to lovely Pittsburgh and a game that was originally supposed to be played in Seattle before the NFL changed the travel rules to favor east coast teams. Not much good happened in this game as the Steelers rolled to a 24-0 victory. One positive to note, Seattle gave up only 7pts in the second half, a trend that continued throughout as the season progressed.

   At 0-2 fans in Seattle became disgruntled. The offense wasn’t scoring points. The blame was heaped heavily on the shoulders of QB Tarvaris Jackson. Many questioned loudly whether Pete knew what he was doing. Some wanted him fired. Most wanted him to bench Tarvaris and play Charlie. “Charlie looked good in the preseason” they said, “he’d earned his shot.” Pete still refused to give in, Tarvaris was his guy whether we liked it or not.

   A not quite convincing win was up next as the Arizona Cardinals came to town. Arizona held a 10-6 advantage at the half on a brilliant catch by Larry Fitzgearald over week two whipping boy former CFL and Oregon State CB Brandon Browner. The second half though, Fitz and the Cardinals were shut out and the Seahawks did just enough scoring one TD on an 11yd Tarvaris Jackson run in the third quarter to eke out a 13-10 victory. Next up were the Atlanta Falcons.

   Week 4 was penciled in by most as a loss before the season ever started, so it was a bit of a surprise when Atlanta came in struggling early on in the season.  At half the Seahawks not surprisingly were trailing 24-7 and the “boo-birds” and “Charlie-chanters” were out in force. Seattle continued the early season trend however turning things around in the second half, allowing only 6 points while scoring 21 and giving themselves a shot at the end to kick a long 61yd field goal late in the fourth quarter to win it. That try went short as did Seattle’s chances, final score 30-28 Atlanta. Tarvaris came alive though and earned many people’s respect bringing us so close in the second half.

   On to gorgeous East Rutherford New Jersey and the New York Giants’ brand new stadium. This was a loss, it had to be, it was on the East coast, at 10am Paciffic time. No way Seattle wins this one. Au contraire mon frère. After adding the no huddle to the game plan in the second quarter come-back versus Atlanta, Pete came out firing again. The quick pace suited Tarvaris better and helped Seattle to jump out to a 14-7 lead after 1 quarter. New York tied the game going into the half and Seattle fans didn’t know quite what to think. Scoring in the third quarter was minimal with the exception of one huge safety by defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove. After New York kicked a go ahead field goal, back up QB Charlie Whitehurst led an 80yd TD drive drawing Osi Umenyoria offside and hitting a wide open Doug Baldwin for the score. New York threatened though driving the length of the field before CB Brandon Browner snatched an Eli Manning tipped pass intended for Victor Cruz and raced 94 yards for the clinching score 36-25 Seahawks.

   Up and down so far, we went into the BYE week banged up. Tarvaris Jackson hurt his pectoral muscle in the third quarter against New York and we all hoped that the long week off would help him heal up in time to go to Cleveland to face the Browns.

   Tarvaris wasn’t good to go for the Browns game so Whitehurst got the nod. I won’t go into too many details here; the offense under Charlie was putrid, Red Bryant blocked 2 FG’s, Leon Washington had a game winning PR TD called back on an invisible block in the back, and Seattle dropped the game  6-3 in one of the worst football games all around I’ve ever watched.

   Next up was Cincinnati at home and the QB that many thought Seattle should have drafted, Andy Dalton. Charlie was starting again and things didn’t look good. Pete pulled him early and inserted a still tender Jackson at QB to try and spark the offense. It didn’t work. Despite stellar play most of the day by the defense, we weren’t ever really in this one. Two late special-teams touchdowns again made the game seem further out of reach than it was. Final score: 34-21 Bengals. Worth noting was rookie CB Richard Sherman running routes for All-Everything WR AJ Green, shutting him down and getting his first NFL INT. Afterwards Sherman noted that AJ Green was “All hype, and bad routes.” Green responded by agreeing.

   We then traveled to Dallas to play “America’s Team.” This game introduced a large section of America to the hard hitting physical defense that Seattle was beginning to become known for around the league. Goal Line stands were becoming the norm. This was a game where the defense came to play and the offense just wasn’t quite able to do enough to win. Both teams went into halftime only able to muster field goals. Two late TD’s by Tony Romo and 1 TD by Marshawn Lynch to go along with 135yds gave the final tally 23-13 Dallas. After the game Romo had nothing but praise for the Seahawks defense saying “That’s a real good football team they’ve got. We came out on top, but they gave us all we could handle for 60 minutes”

   After losing to Dallas on the road most felt that Baltimore would come into Century Link field and walk away victorious. Pete Carroll and the Seahawks defense had something else in mind. Seattle came out pounding the rock, playing the Baltimore game right at the Ravens. For some reason Baltimore went away from play maker Ray Rice while Seattle leaned on bruiser Marshawn Lynch and the leg of former Raven Steven Hauschka to walk away victorious 22-17. The play of the game was late when Lynch took the ball off of left tackle running into All-Pro LB Ray Lewis. Lynch put on a move reminiscent of an Allen Iverson crossover leaving Ray Lewis on the ground dazed while Lynch plowed ahead for extra yards.

   After the physical test of Baltimore, going into St. Louis was a relative cake walk. A game that started with a huge play on the WR pass from Sidney Rice to Mike Williams for 55yds on the first play from scrimmage went south quickly, as the first two passes that Tarvaris Jackson threw were to the wrong team. St. Louis jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. From then on it was all Seahawks defense, while Tarvaris settled in and the team cruised to a 24-7 victory over the team we used to hate the most but now feel sort of sorry for.

   Coming off of two big wins, emotions were high as the Seahawks returned home for a 3 straight games in front of the 12th Man. First up was Washington, and for the first 50 minutes everything was going exactly as planned.  Up 17-7 late in the fourth quarter, Rex (Sex-Cannon) Grossman decided to play 2006 Chicago style and scored 16 unanswered points as Seattle pulled defeat from the jaws of victory, losing 23-17. Seattle had a chance late with the offense on the field and 2min left on the clock but was unable to convert as Tarvaris Jackson was sacked on fourth down to effectively end the game.

  Next up was a prime time meeting with the Dream-Team in disarray, the Philadelphia Eagles. On national TV Seattle all but ended any chance the Eagles had at claiming a post season berth after spending heavily in free agency and being picked by approximately 98.9% of the nation to represent the NFC in the Superbowl. With QB Mike Vick injured and top WR DeSean Jackson acting like a petulant 2-yr old, Seattle rolled over the Eagles in all phases of the game,  jogging to a 31-14 victory.

   Monday night football and our second date with NFC West doormat St. Louis Rams was next on the plate. This time it was in our house, so there was no reason the 12th Man felt they should be nervous at all. The Seahawks and Doug Baldwin in particular came out hot to start and never looked back. Baldwin took a reverse on the opening kickoff to the 40yd line, then blocked a punt later that Michael Robinson picked up for a Touchdown. He later downed a Jon Ryan punt inside the 10yd line. Then as a WR took a Tarvaris Jackson pass into the end zone for a touchdown of his own. Behind his efforts the Seahawks improved to 6-7 after a dismal 2-6 start. The final: Seattle 30, St. Louis 13.

  Playoff hopes were alive in Seattle. Various people were running the numbers figuring out what it would take for the Seahawks to make it in as a wild card. To make any of that possible though, Seattle would have to go to the sight of their last playoff game, Soldier Field in Chicago. With Matt Forte and Jay Cutler out, the Bears were no match for Red Bryant and the Seahawks Defense. After being quite most of the day and trailing 14-7 at halftime, the offense came out throwing on an 80yd drive capped by a Marshawn Lynch TD. On the ensuing drive KJ Wright came clean off the edge forcing Caleb Hanie to unload a ball right into the arms of Red Bryant who took the ball 20yds for a pick six. The rout was on. Final score 38-14 Seahawks.

  Now at 7-7 the Seahawks are looking good and flying high. Two games left on the slate, San Francisco on Christmas eve, and then down to Pink Taco Stadium in Arizona to end the season against the resurgent Arizona Cardinals on New Year’s Day.

   2011 has been a year of highs and lows. A slow start and ugly football hampered our chances early on. Seattle has 15 players lost for the season on IR to include 3 starting Offensive linemen and 2 of our top 3 corner backs. We lost FA WR Sidney Rice to a concussion, and last week against Chicago lost Mike Williams to a broken ankle. The difference this season for the team has been the ability of fill-ins like Richard Sherman and Breno Giacomini to step in and play at a high level. Marshawn Lynch has revitalized his career, surpassing 1000yds rushing and scoring a TD in 10 straight games to break a record held by former league MVP Shaun Alexander. Young players like KJ Wright have emerged allowing the team to part ways with under performing former fourth overall pick Aaron Curry. Doug Baldwin has burst onto the scene trailing only AJ Green for receptions and yards amongst rookie receivers. Corner Brandon Browner though oft maligned for his propensity to draw illegal contact penalties is second in the NFL in INTs and leads the league in passes defensed. Guys like Red Bryant and Mike Williams have emerged as locker room leaders filling the voids left by Matt Hasslebeck and LB Lofa Tatupu when the left the team. In fact, leadership was one trait that many were bemoaning our loss of when Carroll decided to part ways with Tatupu. The defense didn’t seem to miss a beat however.

  Those positives, the ability of the Seattle Seahawks to fight on, to never say die, has me thinking great things for the future. Win or lose on Saturday, playoffs or no playoffs, I will look back at this season as one of my favorite to watch. Seattle brings an attitude and toughness on both sides of the ball that has been lacking for many years, under the guidance of Pete Carroll, John Schneider, and all the coaches and assistant coaches on the staff I only see this trend continuing. It’s a great time to be a fan.